Port Victoria P.V.5a

Designed along more conventional lines than the P.V.5, the P.V.5a was an equi-span single-bay biplane with cable bracing, sharing with the former type only the fuselage, tail surfaces and armament. The pontoon-type floats were supplanted by Linton Hope floats, the internal accommodation for a bomb load was eliminated and a 200hp Hispano-Suiza engine was fitted. Work on the P.V.5 and 5a was initiated in parallel, but work on the latter was discontinued early in 1917, and only reinstated after the P.V.5 had flown, the P.V.5a commencing flight test in the spring of 1918. It proved inferior to the P.V.5 in terms of manoeuvrability and pilot's view, but was satisfactory in most other respects. Development was discontinued after completion of flight testing as no service requirement for this category of aircraft existed.